SIG Computing:
Aug 10, 2025: Quantum Computing Architectures: Feynman’s “Wonderful Problem”
In the 1980s, Richard Feynman articulated that any computer hoping to properly simulate nature would have to be quantum mechanical, since nature is not classical. Over 40 years later, we are still trying to solve this, as Feynman described it, “wonderful problem.” In this talk, I will describe the capabilities a quantum computer can enable in technology and scientific discovery and why it is fundamentally different from classical computing. I will also discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the many quantum computing architectures all vying to achieve the ultimate goal of fault-tolerant quantum computing.
Alex Burgers received his PhD in Physics from the University of Michigan and worked as a postdoc at Caltech and Princeton. Alex became an Assistant Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at the University of Michigan in fall 2022. His work focuses on building quantum technologies using neutral atoms. He has research grants funded by the Army, Air Force, and DARPA, and has received the NSF CAREER Award.
Proposed SIG Linux topics by S Kalwani : dates TBD
- Comparison of video conferencing platforms
- Network tools on Linux – part 1
- Network tools on Linux – part 2